Photo courtesy University of Pittsburgh Athletics Pitt’s Roman Siulepa shoots against Penn State in Hershey Sunday.

HERSHEY — Freshman forward Roman Siulepa poured in a career-high 28 points and Pitt shot 50 percent from beyond the arc to power past Penn State, 80-46, Saturday afternoon at The GIANT Center in Hershey.

The Panthers (7-6) closed out their non-conference schedule by building a 20-point halftime lead and never looking back. Siulepa went 10-of-16 from the field and knocked down 5-of-6 3-pointers to surpass his previous career high of 20 points. He entered the game with just three made 3-pointers on the season.

Pitt jumped on Penn State early, opening the game with a 3-pointer from Barry Dunning, Jr. and never trailing. The Panthers scored their first 15 points exclusively from beyond the arc, as four different players — Dunning, Siulepa, Damarco Minor and Omari Witherspoon — connected to build a 15-6 advantage.

The hot shooting continued throughout the opening half as Pitt went 6-of-11 from 3-point range and shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field to take a commanding 40-20 lead into the break. Meanwhile, the Panthers’ defense held Penn State to just 26 percent shooting (7-of-27) and 2-of-13 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

“I thought Pitt, from the get-go, took it right at us,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said. “They embarrassed my team — that’s how we performed — but that’s how it goes.”

Siulepa had eight first-half points while Nojus Indrusaitis grabbed a career-high seven rebounds before halftime to help Pitt control the glass 21-16. Indrusaitis finished with eight rebounds, establishing a new career high.

Penn State (8-4) trimmed the deficit to 13 points early in the second half with an 8-0 run, but Brandin Cummings stopped the rally with a stepback jumper and then converted a pair of free throws. The Midland native finished with eight points and six rebounds.

From there, Minor took over the playmaking duties. The senior guard hit a 3-pointer and found Siulepa for a slam to push the lead back to 51-32. Minor finished with 11 points and a game-high seven assists while connecting on 3-of-5 from long range.

“When you’re really young and inexperienced, playing from behind is a lot harder than you realize,” Rhoades siaid.

Siulepa heated up midway through the second half, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Pitt’s advantage to 59-37. His fifth triple gave the Panthers a 62-37 cushion with less than eight minutes to play.

Witherspoon added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, while Cameron Corhen contributed nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.

For the game, Pitt shot 50.0 percent (30-of-60) from the field and made 12-of-24 3-pointers (50.0 percent). The Panthers dominated the glass, outrebounding Penn State 42-30, including a 10-7 edge on the offensive boards. Pitt also held a 12-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Penn State was led by Freddie Dilione V, who scored 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. The Nittany Lions shot just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) from the field and struggled from 3-point range, making only 4-of-23 attempts (17.4 percent).

Pitt defeated Penn State for eighth time in the past nine meetings and the Panthers have closed the all-time series to 76-73 in favor of the Nittany Lions. This was the third consecutive meeting played at a neutral site.

“We got to keep fighting to get better and build this thing,” Rhoades said. “A night like this is discouraging and embarrassing, and that’s the reality of it. We played a good basketball game the other night (against Michigan State) and didn’t win, and today, we did not, and all credit to Pitt.”

PENN STATE (8-4): Jurić 0-1 0-0 0, Reed 2-8 4-4 9, Mingo 4-10 1-1 9, Stewart 0-3 0-0 0, Tunca 0-2 0-0 0, Dilione 10-17 1-2 23, Blackwood 0-3 0-0 0, Mirtič 0-4 0-1 0, Houser 2-3 0-1 5, Rice 0-2 0-0 0, Ciani 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-55 6-9 46.

PITTSBURGH (7-6): Corhen 4-9 1-3 9, Siulepa 10-16 3-6 28, Indrusaitis 2-8 0-0 4, Minor 4-7 0-0 11, Dunning 2-6 0-0 5, Witherspoon 5-7 2-2 15, Cummings 3-7 2-3 8, Mullen 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 8-14 80.

Halftime­–Pittsburgh 40-20. 3-Point Goals_Penn State 4-23 (Dilione 2-6, Houser 1-2, Reed 1-5, Jurić 0-1, Rice 0-1, Tunca 0-1, Blackwood 0-2, Mingo 0-2, Stewart 0-3), Pittsburgh 12-24 (Siulepa 5-6, Minor 3-5, Witherspoon 3-5, Dunning 1-4, Cummings 0-1, Indrusaitis 0-3). Rebounds–Penn State 27 (Dilione, Mirtič 6), Pittsburgh 41 (Corhen, Indrusaitis 8). Assists–Penn State 7 (Mingo 5), Pittsburgh 15 (Minor 7). Total Fouls–Penn State 15, Pittsburgh 15. A–8,191 (10,500).